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OVERVIEW

Think alphabet books are just for kindergarten? Think again! In this lesson, students examine a variety of alphabet books, some with rather complex structures, specifically Mary Elting and Michael Folsom's Q Is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game. Students begin the lesson with a read-aloud of the story in which they guess why the authors chose to represent each letter with a particular word and then summarize the pattern of the book. Using "patterned" or "structured" writing can be very effective with struggling writers, and it also allows advanced students to extend their writing capabilities. Students use the pattern of Q Is for Duck to create their own class alphabet book in which students make clever associations for each letter of the alphabet. This experience will assist even the most reluctant writer in becoming an author.

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Because of their characteristics, alphabet books can be viewed as efficient and effective instructional books.

Most 8- to 11-year-old students have a well-developed schema for alphabetical order and can use what they know about this format in prediction activities.

Varying degrees of content complexity help make alphabet books usable with a wide range of age groups.

The unique structure of alphabet books makes them particularly appealing to the reluctant or at-risk reader who might be intimidated initially by the density of print in textbooks, magazine articles, or other types of trade books.